osama bin laden determined to attack the united states. my eyes popped out of my head when that happened. >> i know, i know. >> remember, this is the president who escalated the war in afghanistan. and we are now drawing down. but it just doesn't make any sense to say that he has totally recoiled, that he is afraid of conflict. he has blown these guys up with drones. he doubled down in afghanistan. if anything i think the critique you make is from the left. >> talk to some of the guys close in. he is pretty darn tough when he is in there. this guy is not some jimmy carter on this stuff. not on this stuff. thank you, michael crowley. not that there's anything wrong with jimmy carter but he wasn't exactly a fighter in that sense. jonathan capehart. we always agree, jonathan, that's very dangerous. up next, it's august and congress is out of session. it's hard to know. it's like calvin coolidge, he died, how did you tell. anyway, the birthers are back and this is "hardball." the place for politics. [ man ] look how beautiful it is. ♪ honey,